Catch phrases are for cartoon characters, not political leaders

Why the PM needs to trust the people with an honest assessment of our relationship with the United States

In her biography of Tanya Plibersek, journalist Margaret Simons quotes a source who has told her that Plibersek was in the “naughty corner” with party leader, Anthony Albanese. Simons puts this to Plibersek at one stage, and Plibersek responded angrily: “Oh, who cares? I mean, this is schoolyard stuff. That I didn’t get invited to someone’s birthday party or whatever. Who cares. Really!”¹

On Q&A on Monday night, I noticed the phrase came up again as the prime minister answered questions from the audience. “We’ve restored our position with the world as well,” he said. “We were pariahs, we were in the naughty corner in international forums like the Pacific, we’ve restored those relationships.”

It makes you wonder who Simons’ source was. Even if it wasn’t Albanese himself, it is clearly a phrase his colleagues associate with him. After she was forced from the party, Senator Fatima Payman, for instance, was quoted as saying, “He’s withholding those two additional staff from my office … maybe…